LOCKED DOWN

Over 80,000 Travelers Stranded in Chinese Tourist Hotspot After COVID Outbreak

The resort city has seen a massive COVID outbreak in the last two weeks.

The Chinese city of Sanya, a vacation hotspot known for its beach resorts and luscious forests, has turned into a COVID prison after nearly 80,000 people became stranded there due to an outbreak, according to Reuters. Authorities locked down residents after 6 p.m. on Saturday and cut off public transportation, with most flights and all trains departing the city canceled. The city was also divided into medium and high-risk locales, with different lockdown measures depending on the zone. Now tens of thousands of visitors are forced to remain in the province until next weekend—at the earliest. “We just hope it won’t turn into another Shanghai,” a tourist told Reuters, referencing that city’s strict two-month lockdown. The government has tried to offset rising costs by saying those who got stuck can pay half-price at hotels.